if it does right by you
by kotohiko
Summary: Chara looks you up and down and shrugs. "You're not really tall enough to go for the groin, so I'd say kick him in the shin and run away." (second person pov; rated T for language)


You worry your bottom lip between your teeth, feeling tenser than you probably should. You wish you didn't feel so high-strung, but you can't help it. Holding your breath, you bring up your hand and knock on Chara's door.

"What?" an irritated voice snaps.

You tap lightly against the door with the back of your knuckles.

"Frisk? Come in."

You open the door, but stay standing in the doorway. Chara's lying on their bed with a book on their chest. The glance over when they see you enter.

"What do you need?"

You lick your lips and, making sure that they're still looking at you, you sign, _I was wondering if you could help me with…school stuff._

They raise an eyebrow. "Homework? Ask Mom, not me. I doubt I could help."

They're about to go back to reading, but you shake your head vigorously.

Chara drops their head back onto their pillow. "Then what do you need?" they ask again, sounding exasperated.

You scratch the back of your neck, then sign, _There's this boy at school, and he keeps…pushing me down and pulling my hair and my sweater in the hallways, and he doesn't really hurt me but he steals my books and papers sometimes, and I don't know what to do._

Chara looks you up and down and shrugs. "You're not really tall enough to go for the groin, so I'd say kick him in the shin and run away." They return to their book, adding, "Hey, will you ask Mom when dinner is?"

You sigh and nod, knowing that they'll see you out of the corner of their eye. You rub your arm and walk out of their room, feeling disappointed but not surprised. You weren't sure what you expected them to do, but you just wanted to tell someone – someone who wouldn't tell Toriel. You don't want her to worry, and you know that she has a hard time seeing less-than-good sides of her students.

You do as Chara asks and return to their room. _It'll be ready in thirty minutes._

"Thanks." They pause. "What was that kid's name?"

 _Darren Porter._ _Sorry to bother you,_ you add.

Chara shrugs. "It's whatever, kid. See you at dinner."

* * *

The next day at school, Darren grabs the collar of your sweater when you're walking down the hallway to your first period class. You make a choked noise and drop the book you're holding. When you're released, you drop down and cover your head, moving closer to the lockers to stay out of everyone's way.

"Don't."

You glance up, surprised. Chara stands a foot away from Darren, looking bored. Their voice, while seemingly uninterested, is stern.

Darren scoffs. "Whatever, freak." He gestures at you with his foot. "Keep your fucking girlfriend out of my way, asshole. She's been –"

"Wow! I asked you to stop. Three guesses what you should probably do now, and the first two don't count!" You almost flinch at the cheerful tone in Chara's voice. It's scarier than the neutral one, even when it's directed at someone else.

Darren rolls his eyes. "Oh, you're a funny guy now. Look, keep her away from –"

"Come on, Frisk," Chara interrupts him. You see Darren's fists clench, but you allow Chara to help you up. "Mom wouldn't want you to be late to class."

They rest their hand on your shoulder and steer you towards your classroom. Before they can leave, you tug on their sleeve and mouth, _Thanks._

They shrug. "Don't make it a big thing. He's a shit person. I'm not doing anything special."

You look down and nod. Right. Not a big thing.

You sigh and take your seat in the front of the class. At least it's Friday.

* * *

Chara's gone all day on Saturday – they don't show up for breakfast or lunch, and walk in the door while you and Toriel are eating dinner.

"Child, where were you?" Toriel asks worriedly. "You did not answer your phone."

Chara takes a seat at the table. "I was visiting Dad and Asriel." They start eating food off your plate. You swat at their hand, but they just wink at you.

Toriel's gaze hardens. "I called Asgore, Chara. You were not there."

"When'd you call?" they ask, unconcerned.

"While I was fixing lunch."

Chara nods. "Probably showed up half an hour later. Frisk, will you grab me a plate?"

You hop up and head into the kitchen.

When you get back, you here Chara whisper, "You can't tell me _not_ to visit him."

You try to make some noise when you pass into the dining room so that they know you're there.

"Thanks, kid." Chara fills their plate and talks to Toriel while you finish eating.

You don't point out the fact that there's dried blood on Chara's hand because you can tell that it's not theirs.

* * *

Darren doesn't stop you at school on Monday. You feel some of the tension drain out of you when you make it to the end of the day without being tripped or teased.

Chara's waiting for you outside. You look at them in surprise, but you don't question it. They usually leave early to go visit Asriel after school. Maybe they fought on Saturday? The thought worries you. What could make Chara so mad at Asriel that they refused to visit him?

Chara looks down at you. "What's wrong? You're stressed." They frown. "Did someone else pick on you today?"

You stutter in your steps. _How did you know it was someone else?_

They scowl and stop walking. "Who was it?"

You shake your head. _I mean, how did you know that it would have been someone else? Did you do something to Darren?_

Chara raises an eyebrow and turn away. " _Tch_. Don't make me worry like that, kid. Come on."

Before you lose their attention, you ask, _Are you mad at Asriel?_

They look confused, but you see them put your thought process together. They smile. "Nah, I just wanted to walk you home today."

 _Why?_

"Do you wanna go home or not?"

You sigh, but let the issue drop. Chara won't answer a question that they don't want to.

* * *

You see Darren in the hallway the next morning. You duck your head and hurry past him but he says, "Frisk."

You freeze.

He huffs, and you actually look at him. He has bandages covering his knuckles and bruises on his cheeks. You can't tell if he has a black eye or if he just hasn't slept. You think his nose might have been broken. "Tell your b – your sibling or whatever that I fucking said sorry." He turns and throws over his shoulder. "Keep him on a leash or some shit."

Oh, screw that.

You run up and kick him in the shin.

" _Fuck!_ You little – fuck!"

You hear someone laugh. Chara walks up to you and ruffles your hair. "Nice job, kid," they comment.

You suddenly feel remorseful. You reach out a hand to help Darren up, but he swats your hand away. "Fuck off, freaks. Leave me alone, Christ!"

You sign, _I'm sorry; I shouldn't have done that._

He looks at you, lost, and shakes his head. He straightens up and stalks off.

Chara sighs. "Look, I know you think that violence isn't always the answer, so I'm gonna assume that he did something pretty bad."

You nod, but don't elaborate. Instead, you ask, _Did you beat him up?_

They shrug. "It was a thing, I guess."

You look at them and smile. _A big thing?_ you sign.

You see them snort and roll their eyes, but they don't refute it. In fact, right before you look away, they mouth, _For you it is._

* * *

Darren grabs your arm almost a week later while you're on your way to class. You glare at him. You're not scared. (You're a little scared, but you have your Algebra book in your backpack, which could probably break his nose again if it had to. You really hope that it doesn't have to.)

He appears to be psyching himself up for something, and he loosens his grip on your arm. You relax. Maybe he's going to apologize for real this time! You wait patiently while he gathers his words.

"Look – Listen, you – I – I mean that I, I…"

You tilt your head, but otherwise don't rush him.

He runs a hand through his hair. You notice that it's greasier than usual, and you scrunch your eyebrows in concern.

"Okay, so you're like – you and your friend or whatever – you two are both…?" He trails off, but you think you get the gist of it.

You nod.

"Yeah, like, you're nothing or whatever." You laugh a little bit and nod again. "But you could like, be the opposite too, right? Not _you_ you, but a person could, right?"

You nod and smile. You point at the person in front of you and tilt your head.

"Yeah. Yeah, and look, I'm sorry, I am, but I'm not…like, a…boy, or whatever. I mean, I don't feel like one and I really…Who am I supposed to fucking tell?" Eyes suddenly sharpening, they add, "And if you fucking tell anyone I'll fucking –"

You hold up your hand. _Girl or neither?_ you sign and mouth slowly.

"G-girl," she says, scratching at the back of her neck. "And like, if you could…Like, call me…Crystal or whatever…."

You have to stifle a giggle. You make a motion to get Crystal to follow you.

She does, albeit warily. "Where are we going?"

You point at her, then make an opening-and-closing mouth motion with your hand, then gesture down the hallway.

"Wait, you're gonna make me tell someone?!" She starts backing away.

You shake your head, hesitate, and then nod. _Ms. Toriel,_ you mouth.

It takes her a second to get it, but she relaxes. "And Ms. Toriel is like, cool, right?" Crystal checks.

You grin and nod, and continue leading her down the hallway.

You lead her to Toriel's classroom, which is empty since the bell hasn't rung yet.

She looks up when you enter. "Frisk! And –"

You shake your head to cut her off. _Her name is Crystal. She's really stressed right now._

"Oh!" Toriel makes a quick mark on the attendance sheet on her desk. "Crystal Porter, is it?" Toriel confirms.

Crystal blushes and scowls, turning away. "U-uh, yeah. I mean, yes, Ms. Toriel."

 _Mom, I gotta go get to class. You don't have a class first period right?_ Toriel nods. _Okay! Thank you._

"Thank _you_ , Frisk," Toriel says. "Now, Crystal, come have a seat, please!"

You get the feeling that if it was anyone else other than Toriel, she wouldn't have done it, but something about your mom can just calm people down.

You smile and hurry to your first period class.

* * *

Crystal stops you after school. "Hey, Frisk!" You look up at her. "Thanks for telling Ms. Toriel. She's…really cool. So, yeah. Thanks."

Before you can reply, she looks over your shoulder and scowls.

You turn and see Chara stomping up to you. You quickly sign, _It's okay! She's not bothering me, she apologized, it's okay!_

They stare at you, but stop stomping. _Internalized shit?_ they mouth.

 _Probably._

They roll their eyes. They walk past you and make their way up to Crystal. "Look, I have _no_ problems with punching a girl. You mess with Frisk, you know what happens, asshole."

"Fuck off," Crystal snaps. "And whatever. Ugh." She scowls and stalks away.

You frown at Chara. They give you a hard look. "It doesn't make what she did okay, kid, and you know that."

You frown and cross you arms across your chest.

Chara hits your arm lightly. "You're too good, kid." They almost sound envious.

You smile. _You're good, too!_

"Yeah, sure. Wanna come see Asriel with me?" You nod energetically. "Let's head. And I'll play nice with your new friend, but she's not getting any pie if Mom invites her over for dinner."

You nod sagely. It's only a fair compromise.


End file.
